Rotary-rabbled ore-roasting furnace.



No. 759,730. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904;

T. D. MERTON.

ROTARY RABBLED ORE ROASTING FURNACE. l APPLIUATION FILED 00T.5, 1903.

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Wgggb 5m Efifls c0, PuoTauma. WASHINGTON 1 l UNITED STATES Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROTARY-RABBLED ,ORE-ROASTING FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,730, dated May 10, 1904.

Applicatian filed October 5,1903. Serial No. 175,893. (No model.)

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Be it known that I, TI-IoMAs DANIELLS MER- TON, metallurgist, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at The Spottiswoode Refinery and Metallurgical orks, Spottiswoode, near Melbourne, in the State of Victoria, Commonwealth of Australia, have invented lmprovements in Rotary-Rabbled Ore- Roasting Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ore-roasting furnaces having a fiat hearth along which the ore is caused to travel by means of rotary rabbles which continually stir up the ore and present fresh surfaces whereby the ore is desulfurized and a sweet roast obtained.

Now the principal factor in an expeditious and perfect roast is the introduction of oxygen directly over the freshly-turned-up ore to assist in desulfurizing and oxidizing the metals therein, and this invention has been mainly devised to achieve the desired object. This result is attained by the introduction of air through the spindles of the rabbles, which is emitted through apertures in an arm following in the wake of the shoes on the rabblearms, so that the air is delivered into the furrows formed by said shoes or shares, and so brought into immediate contact with the freshly-turned surfaces of the ore. The spindles of the rabbles may be driven from below the furnace or above by any suitable gear, and the air-discharge arms are so constructed that they may be readily attached or detached.

Another feature of this furnace is the relative location of the flue and feed-hole, the latter being at the rear of the former to counteract the tendency of the finer particles of the ore being drawn up the chimney.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my improvements, and comprise, in

Figure 1, a longitudinal vertical section of the furnace, and Fig. 2 an enlarged vertical transverse section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view similar to a portion of Fig. 2, illustrating a modified construction.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 is the hearth, which may be of any suitable length, upon which the ore is fed through a feed-tube 2, situated near the rear end of the hearth.

3 represents the fine, placed in advance of said feed-tube to prevent line particles being drawn up the chirnney,and consequently lost, and 4t indicates the fire-box.

The rotatable spindles 5 pass through the hearth of the furnace, as in Fig. 2, or up through the roof, as in Fig. 3, and are provided with any suitable driving-gear---such, for instance, as worm and worm-wheel gearing, as shown.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, the spindle 5 is made hollow and is supported on a foot-step formed in the bottom of a stuilingbox 6 and is provided with a hole 7 within said stufling-box, so as to admit air into the hollow spindle. Branch pipes 8, provided with valves 9, conductthe air to said stuffingbox from the main pipe 10. The air may be forced along these main and branch pipes by means of a fan or blower and passes up the spindle andthence through a passage-way 11 in the boss 12 thereof. A hollow air-distril.)- uting arm 13 fits into the boss 12, so that its open end is in communication with the passage-way 11, thus conducting the air along said arm, so that it is emitted, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 2, through apertures 14:, inclined or otherwise upon the freshly-rabbled ore.

The air-distributing arm 13 is simply pushed into a hole in the boss 12 and is supported above the hearth by a stay-rod 15, attached to its forward end, and engages one of the teeth of an adjusting-lug 16 on said boss 12.

The rabble-ar1ns 17are provided with shoes or shares 18 and are secured in position in the same manner as thcarm 13, and each rabble-arm is provided with an extension 18, which closes the open end of the spindle, as shown in Fig. 2. 19is the water-supply pipe, and 20 the discharge-water sleeve, which is in communication with thehollow rabble-arm.

Instead of supplying the air and driving from below, as shown in Fig. 2, said air-supply and driving-gear may be arranged above the furnace, as illustrated in Fig. 3, while in some instances the water-cooling is unnecessary and may be omitted.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. In a roasting-furnace, the combination of a hollow rotatable spindle, gas-supplying mechanism communicating with one end thereof, a laterally-orificed boss mounted on said spindle, a rabble-arm inserted in one of the orifices, a perforated air-distributing pipe inserted in one of the other orifices and communicating with the hollow spindle, said rabblearm projecting laterally transversely through the air-supplying pipe and forming a partition to divert the air into the air-distributing pipe, substantially as described.

2. In an ore-roasting furnace, a hollow r0- tatable spindle, air-supplying mechanism communicating with one end thereof, a laterallyorificedboss mounted on the other end, a rabble-arm inserted in one of the orifices and closing the open end of the spindle, and an air-distributing arm inserted in the other orifice and communicating with the hollow spindle.

3. In an ore-roasting furnace, a hollow rotatable spindle, air-supplying mechanism conimunicating with one end thereof, a laterallyorificed boss mounted on the other end, arabble-arm inserted in one of the orifices and having an extension for closing the open end of the spindle, and an air-distributing arm inserted in the other orifice and communicating with the hollow spindle.

4c. In an ore-roasting furnace, a roastingchamber, rotary-rabble and air-distributing mechanism arranged therein, a fire-box at the discharge end of the chamber, an ore-inletat the feed end of the chamber, and an angular flue arranged in advance of the ore-inlet, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I hav e signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS DANIELLS MEItTON.

WVitnesses:

EDWARD IVATERs, EDWARD IVATERS, J unr. 

